Yesterday Councilmember Todd introduced a bill to add a representative of the Department of Public Works to the Bicycle Advisory Council. DPW is the party primarily responsible for enforcing parking in the bike lanes, so the intent of the bill is to make it easier for the BAC to advise DPW.

I don't see the bill on legiscan yet, but once I do I'll try to add a link to it here.

Interestingly, when the BAC was formed in 1985, the DPW was a member. But in an effort to cut out agencies that didn't have much overlap - like DDOE - DPW was removed in 2008. That was before bike lane parking and enforcement became a big issue. In fact, it wasn't until late 2008 that there was even a fine for parking in the bike lane.

The DC Council has been holding its annual oversight hearings for the District's departments, agencies, councils and other organizations, and WABA has been going to select meeting to testify.

At the DPW oversight hearing they focused on parking in bike lanes and DPR's role in enforcement of parking.

This is a problem with parking enforcement priorities. DPW is listed as a supporting agency in the Vision Zero Action Plan strategy to protect vulnerable users through “enhanced enforcement that focuses on . . . parking in [or] blocking bike lanes.” A central tenet of Vision Zero is that agencies prioritize safety over convenience. In general, the DPW enforcement data demonstrates a pervasive failure to do so. For example: combined tickets for blocking a bike lane, blocking a fire hydrant, or blocking a bus stop, all of which put people in actual danger, numbered just over 20,000 or 2.8% of total tickets. The District issued three times as many (or more than 60,000) tickets for residential parking permit violations, which are important, but ultimately a matter of convenience rather than safety.

WABA members have also reported a different barrier to effective bike lane parking enforcement: Currently, the city’s 311 system doesn’t have a clear way for residents to report blocked bike lanes.

At the DPR hearing they were interested in ways they can work with DPR to provide more bicycle programming and education.

In the past year, we have made numerous attempts to connect with DPR leadership at multiple levels, applied to their community partnership program, and offered to train their staff. We have received mixed messages at best, outright denials at worst. Truly, it should not be so difficult to connect the people of DC with services and opportunities they clearly want

And at the DDOT hearing they focused on "the agency’s progress on ensuring safe accommodations for bicyclists through construction work zones, and the pace at which bike infrastructure and other multi-modal safety projects are being implemented." WABA raised concerns with how permits are issued and how they're enforced, damningly noting that

In the past year, a single dedicated WABA member has reported to the public space office nearly one hundred safe accommodation violations along his commute. This individual’s near daily documentation of violations, more than anything, has revealed the shortcomings of the public space office’s ability to take in complaints, rapidly respond to those complaints, or create a process for ensuring that permit violators are in compliance before they are allowed to resume work.

and, or course, about the pace

The 2014 Move DC two year action plan called for 15 miles of new on-street bicycle infrastructure. We are nowhere close to that pace, and never have been, as we point out every year.

They note that the Florida Avenue project seems to prioritize moving cars, that the Rhode Island project doesn't adequately address bicycling in the corridor, and that the East Capitol Street Bridge rehab will "move forward with the same substandard sidewalk which is stressful and dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists", etc... Basically, everything is behind schedule or off the pace of plans and this is pretty much how it has been for 15 years. Either there is a problem in goal setting or in

we need a transportation agency that is clear about its goals and meeting them. We understand the projects are getting harder, require extensive public outreach and lengthy planning. This underscores the need for deeper buy-in and contribution from the full agency, and a powerful vision and approach that can galvanize citizen support for these projects

Meanwhile, the BAC testified at the MPD oversight hearing, bringing up issues of MPD involvement in the BAC, enforcement with respect to dangerous and distracted driving and bicycle theft.

Every year there are hundreds of reports of stolen bicycles and, since a 2014 study put the report rate at 35%, likely thousands more that are stolen and not reported. The same study found that about half of all cyclists will have a bicycle stolen in the next 10 years. So this is a serious problem and the BAC is interested in seeing more robust reporting of bicycle theft statistics, numbers which are hard or, in some cases impossible, to find. The recent Bicycle and Pedestrian safety bill had several provisions on reporting violation, crash, injury and fatality data on the premise that such reporting could shed a light on both problems and solutions. We believe the same is true of theft, and that reporting the numbers of bikes stolen, the number recovered and the clearance rate would serve the same utility. We’d like to know more about what MPD is doing to prevent bicycle theft and to recover and return stolen bikes.

The DC Bicycle Advisory Council seeks editing, research and administrative support services (see Council description below). The point of contact on the BAC will be the Treasurer, with whom all work will be coordinated and accounted for on an ongoing basis. The support services provider will be available to all BAC members based on available funding and BAC priorities.

Services include:

BAC meetings

◦Attend all full BAC meetings (in odd months), and committee meetings (up to 3 in even months).

◦Assist the BAC chair and committee chairs in preparing a monthly meeting agenda and circulating it at least 3 days prior to the meeting; Assist BAC Secretary and committee chairs in preparing accurate meeting minutes within a week of each meeting as requested.

Drafting letters and testimony, and research

◦Help BAC members to prepare correspondence and testimony. This may include drafting text based on bullet points, researching relevant data, or editing and circulating letters drafted by BAC members.

◦Find, summarize and make available to BAC members existing research, data and writings on specific policy topics including

◦Work with BAC members to get the most out of our work by editing and repackaging it for different audiences.

Website and general administration

◦Maintain and promote the website (http://dcbac.blogspot.com/) such as posting meeting announcements and minutes, and working with BAC members to draft blog updates for the site;

◦Arrange space for and publicize bimonthly BAC meetings (first Wednesday of the month from 6:00-8:00).

◦Maintain and circulate (whenever revised) a complete roster of all BAC members including, phone numbers, email addresses and which Council member they represent;

◦Maintain the Google group email list;

◦Maintain and improve resources such as BAC letterhead used for correspondence, testimony and media releases;

Work Plan and Task Follow-up

◦Work with the BAC Chair and Committee Chairs to draft an annual BAC Work Plan and then monitor and report on its progress to the BAC, potentially including tracking and follow-up of tasks discussed at full BAC meetings and committee meetings.

Requirements/Skills:

Preference will be given to DC residents

Excellent writing and editing skills

Website managements skills

Ability to work well with others, meet deadlines, and contribute ideas on how the work of the Council can be most effective

Flexibility to work independently and attend evening and weekend meetings

The DC Bicycle Advisory Council (BAC) is a group appointed by the DC Council to advise District government on bicycling issues. It consists of 13 appointed community members (one appointed by each Councilmember), and four government representatives for DDOT, OP, MPD, and DPR. The BAC has three standing committees: 1) the facilities committee, 2) the legislative committee, and 3) the safety, education and enforcement committee. BAC general meetings are held on the first Wednesday of odd numbered months from 6-8pm at One Judiciary Square (441 4th Street NW) and are open to the public. BAC committees meet during the even-numbered months on a varying schedule.

Applying:

Please send a resume and cover letter to Jeff Johnson (BAC Secretary/Treasurer) at jjohnsondc@earthlink.net. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

At the most recent DC BAC meeting, DDOT gave an update on its work and included that it is only working on one possible cycletrack at this time - the "East End Bikeway" [nee the 9th Street Cycle-track] a north-south facility located between 4th and 9th NW which might also be bike lanes.

During FY2014 they added 8.5 miles of bike lane and 20 CaBi stations for a total of ~200, and work is underway on the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Pedestrian Bridge and the Kenilworth section of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail.

There is also planning underway for improvements of the Rock Creek Park Trail (complete in 2015), the Fort Totten Section of the Met Branch Trail (2016), the Oxon Run Trail rebuild (2020), Klingle Valley Trail (2015), East Capitol Street EOTR improvements (2015), Maryland Avenue road diet (2016), Suitland Parkway Trail Rehab (2016), and the South Capitol Street Trail (2017). More projects may be added and other projects advanced if more local trail funding can be allocated to bike programs. DDOT is asking for $1 million (place pinky at corner of mouth) extra.

The DC Bicycle Advisory Council's Planning Committee will meet on Wednesday, June 18th, 5:30-7PM, at the Downtown BID Offices, 1250 H Street, NW to discuss the final MoveDC draft report. Please RSVP (dc-bac@googlegroups.com) if you are planning to attend.

DDOT has released their draft final report that includes separate elements for different modes, including bicycles, in Part 2. You can view the all of the MoveDC documents online and/or download it by going to the wemovedc website:

Everyone should look at the report before coming to the meeting. We will not be doing an overview/presentation of the report at our meeting on the 18th. We will be going straight to comments that people have about what the report includes and does not include to form the basis of the BAC response to DDOT and the DC Council. There will be a hearing on the report before the DC Council’s Committee on Transportation June 27th and our testimony will be important.

Work done on the 18th will be presented to the full BAC for discussion at our regular meeting on July 2, 6pm, at One Judiciary Square, 441 4th Street, NW, Rm. 1114. Comments are due to DDOT by July 7th.

The Alexandria Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee is still looking for volunteers for documentation project counts Thursday July 11th (5-7pm) and SaturdayJuly 13th (12-2pm). Go to their webpage for additional information: www.bicycle.alexandria.va.us/

Surprise! Bike share in NYC is a big success. Though ABC got a little confused on the facts in DC. "Washington D.C. began its program in 2008 with 120 bikes and 10 stations. It has expanded to 1,800 bikes and more than 200 stations." And despite trippling bike parking in Boston, it can't keep up with demand.

Yesterday I reported that a cyclist was hit and killed at 11th and U, NW, but as of last night, only one outlet was reporting that, so let's all hope that WJLA is wrong (I'm sure they'd be happy to retract).

City Paper has an article on a bike theft vigilante encouter gone wrong. This follows the two-part series that the Hill Rag had earlier this year. [I don't think I ever highlighted the second one - it's here] The two articles do not make the police look good.

The FBI reported that 4.4 percent of all larceny-thefts in the northeast U.S. were bicycle thefts, much higher than pick-pocketing.

"I gave a full report to a disgruntled police officer when he showed up an hour later. He chided me for not using a U-Lock"

"After a futile phone call to the police to hatch a plan..."

" I called the police immediately, but they were only concerned that I wasn’t chasing my bike thief."

"The police never showed up."

"I contacted the police. They said they were going to try to send someone to the shop to put a hold on the bike, but they had to talk to their lawyers,” remembered Schafer. “But that took more than a month.”

It turned out that the shop’s owner had bought the bike for $100 at Brumwell’s Flea Market in Pasadena, Maryland, not far from Severna Park. Brumwell’s is a massive market covered by few regulations; vendors set up on a first come, first served basis, no paperwork required. In this case the bicycle sellers apparently showed up for two consecutive weekends with a big rented truck packed with cycles. “There were hundreds of bikes under a huge tent, ten guys [working], selling for cash,” Schafer said the store owner told him. Then they disappeared.

On Wednesday morning, Metropolitan AME Church issued a “call to action” on its Facebook page. It read, in part: “The city is proposing to install bike lanes on M Street from 14th Street to 28th Street. This action will affect parking for church services, especially funerals and Sunday angle parking. We (as a church body) need to submit testimony during the public response period.”

It appeared that most people believed that the bike lanes would pass directly in front of the church, creating a danger for the elderly, according to some speakers

Today might be your last, best chance to see the Pan Stars comet with the naked eye. Around 7:40 pm in the western sky.

Tomorrow, cyclists riding from Newtown, CT to ask for comprehensive gun control legislation will stop at Proteus Bikes where they hope other like-minded people will join them for the last few miles into DC.

The 11th Street Bridge's 16-foot wide sidewalk should open in late May or early June. "Walkers and bikers will have access to several scenic overlooks under construction in the middle of the span." As a statement to the sad shape of the old bridge, even the temporary set-up they're using now is better than the old facility.

Two new bikeshare locations have been approved in Georgetown. "
One station will be located next to the CVS on O Street NW at Wisconsin Avenue and the second will be located on what is currently an empty lot where 34th Street intersects with Water Street, NW
"

Lots of MSM coverage of the 26% increase in reported bike crashes in Fairfax County in 2012. "According to the records of the 15 accidents involving bikes in January and February of 2012, bicyclists were determined to be at fault in seven of them. Of those seven incidents, only one biker was given a citation. The offense was riding on the wrong side of the road." I suspect the uptick is, in part, the results of better reporting.

San Francisco is going to try another round of bikes on BART, allowing bikes in all stations and on trains at all hours on every Friday. "We heard from countless bike riders on both sides of the Bay that the August pilot opened up regional commuting by bike for both experienced bike riders and those wanting to give it a try for the first time,”

Capital Bikeshare still struggles to match supply to demand: As anyone who uses the sturdy red two-wheelers knows, too often there isn’t a bike or a dock available when you need one.

Capital Bikeshare has seen its usage more than double since it opened in September 2010. Today the system has 22,146 “active members” with one-month or annual memberships, and has tallied another quarter million one-day and three-day “casual” memberships in the last two years. That’s between, 20,000 and 60,000 trips per week depending on the season, according to Capital Bikeshare.

I donated my clunker to charity and signed up for Capitol Bikeshare months before it opened. And my husband later bought me a used bike at a moving sale.

Grocery shopping on a bike took some getting used to.

If companies can’t work out the glitches—like Car2Go’s Internet connection problems and Bikeshare’s apparent inability to expand its bikes and docks fast enough to meet demand—they could kill sharing:

The D.C. Bicycle Advisory Council is scheduled to provide testimony at its Fiscal Year 2012-2013 Performance Oversight Hearing before the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, chaired by Council member Mary M. Cheh (Ward 3).

Letter writer is right on how bike lanes can free up automobile parking. "Perhaps we should all pay more for the privilege of street parking — $100 a year, say, instead of $35 — with new revenue dedicated to transit, bike lanes and sidewalk repair."

Del John Cox launching into the slide show on his lap top of RABA cyclists riding more than two abreast and refusing to fall into single file formation when being approached from the rear by a faster moving vehicle. He continued by noting that he took these photos himself on Blanton Rd. near his home, and that we also could take such pictures almost any Saturday or Sunday morning.

"The commenter got caught up in the Green Line shutdown Jan. 27 but found a Capital Bikeshare station nearby and rode away from the trouble."